


Cayendo

by DenebYL



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Crushes, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23649427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenebYL/pseuds/DenebYL
Summary: "Is it love to keep it from you?"A shooting star, a betrayed Raihan, and a heartbroken Leon.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 85





	Cayendo

**Author's Note:**

> I know I'm shocked too. Me? a new work? in the year of our lord 2020? wow
> 
> and I know I tagged "[I Care For You Still and I Will](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22101880)" as a one shot, but uh... yeah.

“Come on!” Raihan laughed. “That’s pretty far-fetched, don’t ya think?”

“Is it really?” Sonia continued, though her attention was clearly still for the freshly baked Magikarp-shaped cake that she had bought earlier.

“Well, of course!” He shrugged. “We’re just friends. Like you and I, Nessa and Milo, Piers and… Wait. Maybe Kabu. Kabu and… everyone, I guess.”

“Right.” Sonia mumbled, obviously not buying it, but decides to play along anyway. “Everyone has a crush on Kabu though.”

“Well, not…” He proudly pointed towards himself with his thumb. “This guy!”

“That’s not what you said eight years ago.”

“Really! That was eight years ago!” He groaned weakly, then stopped in his tracks. He then started looking around them. “Okay, okay. Try… Okay.”

The mumbling, an attempt to grab Sonia’s attention away from the inner workings of her mind that had definitely planned out what childhood crush joke she was ready to throw his way had worked. He then put a hand on her shoulder and had the biggest ear to ear grin on his face, one that Sonia knew as one that he’d always put on when he was scheming – and if she were to be honest, 90% of the time, the scheme would just backfire.

“Foolproof way to prove I don’t have a crush on Leon.”

“I’m… shocked.” She lightly teased the confidence that the other man exuded. “But, go on.”

“Okay. Now hear me out, yeah? A shooting star. Right there.” Raihan pointed at the sky, somewhere just beyond the trees that overlooked Hop and Leon’s house. “If I really was in love with him, there’d be a shooting star. Right there.”

Before Sonia could complain to him about the sheer impossibility of it all, there was a flicker upon the navy blue blanket exactly where Raihan had pointed. Almost as quickly as it happened, a diamond gleam twinkled right in front of their very eyes and drew a line towards the horizon. It then disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving the two friends gawking as they looked at each other.

They stared at each other in silence, and both of them looked at the ground. Unsure how to react. Raihan wanted to bury himself – might ask his Flygon to dig a hole just about deep enough, but not too deep. Just about enough to let him live there forever. Sonia, on the other hand, could have sworn that her mind felt like a kid’s attempt at a Roseli fruit salad. There’s so much to unpack there, but neither of them certainly don’t have time to – but really, what else is there to say about it?  
Actually, there’s a whole lot to say about it. That’s why Sonia’s already staring Raihan down like he’d grown three tails.

“No.”

“…I really, really was going to comment on the absolute impossibility of it all.”

“…Don’t—“

“Raihan!” Sonia exclaimed, her expression betraying all but pure amusement as she broke into giggles. “There’s no getting out of this anymore!”

“There is a getting out of this!” He yelled in return, his voice expressing a mixture of disbelief, betrayal, and panic surfacing somewhere in his gut – damn you, universe! “That doesn’t count!”

A panicked Raihan certainly tried his best to get Sonia to listen to him – that that star was definitely a coincidence, and definitely not the universe exposing his lie.

“…Okay, okay. So,” She wiped a tear from her right cheek and stopped laughing, trying to regain her composure. “About that…”

“That—“ Raihan couldn’t look Sonia in the eyes, but then pointed towards the station. “You know what? That means it’s time to get that lotto!”

“Oh, come on, Raihan!” Sonia groaned as she chased after him, who was walking away from her.

Well, actually, he was power walking. Really fast, too.  
_Heel, ball, roll, toe, heel, ball, roll, toe… Wait, is that even right?_

“Lotto! Lotto time! Sonia, we’re gonna be rich!”

“You haven’t answered my question!”

“No time to answer questions when I’m about to be the richest man in all of Galar!”

-

It really is weird how much the universe is so vehemently against him hiding his crush on the Galar Champion. Surely, he’s not the only person in Galar who’s hiding their feelings over someone who’d never reciprocate.

“A shooting star, straight up just… appeared. Where I pointed.” He took a swig from the glass that was between him and the barbecue grill. “ _That_ somehow came true, and yet the lotto I got was a bust!”

The brief chuckle that escaped Piers’ lips was the most he’d gotten out of him this week, followed by him clearing his throat – probably hoping that Raihan hadn’t heard him, since he was supposed to be sympathising with his current drinking buddy, and he certainly wasn’t supposed to be exhibiting his amusement so clearly. Well, that, he’ll do when he gets home.

“Well, the universe is certainly keen on exposing your lies.” Piers commented. “I’m guessing Sonia’s theory is no longer a theory in her mind now.”

“I don’t…” He scratched the back of his head, sighing. “I don’t wanna think about it. Just… the less people that know, the better, y’know?”

“Well, I hear you.” He said, while looking at his Rotomphone that had lit up because of a notification. “Huh…”

“That Marnie?” Raihan leaned back in his seat.

“Yeah. Keep talking, though. I’m just gonna reply real quick…” He picked up his phone, and Raihan frowned.

It wasn’t that he’d minded – there have been times where Piers had had to respond to important e-mails while he talked his troubles away, and really, it was no issue. The problem here was that Raihan didn’t know what else there was to talk about.

“…Honestly, that shooting star really got me wishin’.” He let out another sigh as he looked up to the ceiling. “I wanna stop crushing on him, just for one exhibition match at least? It’s just a matter of time until people start noticing why I stare down—“

“…I truly do respect you as a close friend and a colleague, but I don't need to be thinking about where you’re staring when you battle him because we have a match in two days.” 

“But, Piers!” Raihan groaned. “You’re the only one I can talk to about this!”

Piers immediately had a look of concern, unsure how to respond to that statement.

“Well, start… Start staring at his top or something.” He shook his head. “Or his hair? That… fluffy, purple Wooloo-like hair?”

“Staring at his top has got to be the worst advice you’ve ever given me in all these years of friendship.” He stared at Piers. “Second to when you told me to approach that barista three years ago because, oh, who cares! If the flirting attempt fails, you’ll never see him again anyway!”

“Again?!” Piers sighed. “How was I supposed to know that she also worked a part-time job at the Hammerlocke Pokemon Center?!”

“Point is,” Raihan put both his arms on the table, and sombrely looked at the oaken wood that it was made of. “I’m not staring at his top.”

“…I literally gave you two options. You can still… stare at his hair.”

“…But I’d have to look past his neck to stare at his hair. Then that would beat the purpose.” He stared at his half-filled glass. “…Piers.”

“What?”

“…What if I crushed on you instead?”

“Absolutely not.”

The rejection was as swift as he had expected it to be.

-

“Hey, wait up, Raihan!”

A faint but easily recognisable voice called out from behind him. He’d barely just made it past the bridge that marked entry to the large, velvet, rose-shaped stadium, and he’d already had someone chasing him down.

“Oh, Leon.” Raihan turned around to stop and wait for the other man. 

“Man, you have a powerwalking group or something?” Leon finally reached him and laughed. “It’s like you were running away from me!”

“Huh, I would never!” Raihan joked, though there was a little bit of him deep inside that outright denied that it was.

At the thought of it, unease pooled in his stomach. How could he?

“Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about needing to surpass you when it comes to walking.” Raihan obviously directed it at the fact that Leon was slightly out of breath trying to catch up with him. “What’s gotten you so riled up, champ?”

“Well, maybe one day I’ll be challenging you on that. From Hammerlocke to Wyndon, no Corviknight Taxi.” Leon laughed. “Actually, I just wanted to check up on you.”

Slightly confused, Raihan thought back to how he was behaving during the exhibition match. _Leon would definitely be too caught up in the battle to notice how he was staring at him,_ he wonders, though not in confidence.

“You, uh…” Leon shrugged. “I’m not sure how to put it, but is there something bugging you?”

“Oh?” His tone was lighter, his playfulness emerging. “What makes you think that?”

“Honestly, I can’t quite put it into words.”

“Well, whatever psychological rock that plagues my mind can easily be solved with an expensive meal – has to be your shout, though, or it won’t work.” Raihan nodded to himself, leaning back towards the railing as he let his elbows carry his weight.

“Hey, how much money do you think I make?” Leon laughed as he perched his hands on the bridge railings, and lightly punched Raihan, who responded by raising his eyebrows.

“I’m–“ He paused for a bit, though his face barely betrayed the amusement that he got from it all. “Surely you’re not gonna make me dig around, because I will!”

Leon’s laughter soon died down into a small smile, his gaze turning to the orange skies that met with an autumn-colored river. The immediate shift in the atmosphere between them immediately tugged on Raihan’s heartstrings. The anxiety in him plagued his mind – he didn’t mean to dismiss Leon, but perhaps it came across that way far too easily?

“Hey, I—“

The both of them spoke in unison as they turned toward each other, and the realisation that they had spoken the exact same words at the exact same time led to a shared chuckle that was quickly followed up by a tug of war that followed along the lines of, “No, you first” and “Actually, you go on ahead”.

“Okay, okay, hang on. Since you reached out to me first…” Raihan only grinned, lifting his hands up slightly as if surrendering. “I’ll go.”

He took a deep breath, and let his lips curl up into a smile as he continued.

“…Well, I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” He fixed the side of his bandanna as he looked at the other side of the river, facing away from Leon’s. Instead of gazing at pillars of yellow, brushed and blended against red as it faces the river, he’s looking at a sky of winter. A darker, navy blue canvas that had quietly donned twinkling lights – a slight feeling of dismay when he remembers how one of them had betrayed him a few days prior.

“…Honestly? I’ve just been thinking about… someone, I guess.” He shrugged, and it was in this moment that he had decided to just let it all out. “They’ve been on my mind for the longest time and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Someone?” Leon inched closer, his interest piqued. “In a good, or a bad way?”

“I…” He groaned, unsure what to say. It’s a little bit of both, so there’s not much else he can say besides, “Both, really.”

“Do I know them?”

“Ahh,” Raihan shook his head. “If I tell you that, where’s the mystery in it?”

“You’re just gonna keep me guessing, huh?” Leon laughed.

Raihan nodded, and continued with a sigh.

“…It’s just odd how someone occupies your mind so much, you know?”

He was still looking at the glimmering dots, failing to notice Leon’s hand. His hand that had quietly extended towards him, trembling with fear and anxiety, but also a want, a need, a yearning to hold him. Perhaps just to ease the other’s mind, or perhaps out of the realisation that his heart had just broken a little.

Perhaps just so that he could reach out, and make his feelings known.

But Leon withdrew far before Raihan even turned back to him, noticing the silence that was unbecoming of him.

“You okay?”

“…Yeah.” He took a deep breath, then smiled at him. “I think I understand.”

**Author's Note:**

> Recently did AuthorsApril and that motivated me to finally finish this.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
